The Surprises That Lie Behind Every Corner
by inu-rulz
Summary: Tsunade sent then on the mission, not knowing what that mission would entail. Naruto accepted the mission as just another obstical to becoming Hokage. Hinata took it as a chance to be with Naruto. Neither knew what they would be asked to do by the end...
1. Prologue

Prologue

Start Word: Certainty

Hinata POV

QOQOQ

I looked down into my arms with a dumbstruck look on my face. I couldn't believe what I had just heard. I turned my attention back to the woman lying on the bed. Her breathing was shallow, and she could barely keep her eyes open any longer.

She looked up at me, watching as I was held her daughter.

"Please… I must have your word that you will watch over her… and keep her from harm… Take her as your own, and never tell her of her fathers crimes until you deem she is old enough… when the time comes that she is ready, tell her of her past, and of her noble heritage… tell my father of this, and that I want her to leave the Land of Lightning for her safety… to live in Konoha… with you… and Naruto… and… someday… I hope that… she will one day claim… her rightful place… as the Daiyamo(sp?)… of the Land… of Lightning…"

She laid her head down against the pillow where she had lifted it while she was speaking, but kept looking at me, waiting for my confirmation.

I wasn't completely sure if I was making the right decision or not, but I couldn't just say no to her. I wasn't sure how I was supposed to take care of a child, when I was still very much one myself. But I knew that I would never be able to live with myself if I didn't at least put her fears to rest.

"I promise, I will take care of your daughter, and make sure that no harm comes to her. I swear to you that I will do this. And I will keep my promise, even if it costs me my life. For that is my nindu(sp?), my ninja way." I said this with more conviction in my voice that I felt.

She closed her eyes and smiled at me. "That is all that I can ask for…"

I watched as she finally relaxed, and let herself die, happy in the knowledge that her daughter was safe.

I collapsed into a nearby chair, feeling the sudden weight of my pledge drop onto my shoulders. What would I to do now? And how was I to tell Naruto that I just promised that we would take care of the princess of the Land of Lightning?

I whipped my head around as I heard the door to the room open. Naruto slowly walked though the door, shutting it behind him. He looked over at the bed before he walked over and sat next to me.

We sat, silent, for a few minutes. The baby began to fuss, so I started rocking and bouncing my arms. I began to hum a lullaby that my mother would hum to me as a child. She quiets down, but doesn't fall asleep. Instead she looks at Naruto. I look over to him and offer him the baby. His eyes get wide as if he's surprised, but forms his arms into a cradle nonetheless.

"Be careful to support her head and neck," I say as I carefully lay the delicate, infant girl in his arms.

He nods his head with a determined expression on his face. As he cautiously adjusts his arms around newborn, I see his face soften into a look of happiness and contentment. I decide that I should tell him of what I promised to do now, rather than later. I belatedly realize that I probably shouldn't have given him the child if I was going to tell him this.

"Ahem," I cleared my throat to get his attention, and then began to start talking. Or at least, I tried.

"Naruto-kun, I… I-I… w-well, th-the thing is… y-you see…" This was going to be harder than I thought…

"Hinata, what is it that you want to tell me?" He responded in confusion.

I sighed, and toughened my resolve.

"N-Naruto-kun, I… The prince-… The late princess has some… last words and wishes, before she died."

"What were they?"

"Well… *sigh* she asked that we keep her from harm. That we take her as our own daughter and raise her as such, always making sure that she is safe and out of danger. She doesn't want her to know about her father, what he's done, or that she is the heir to the throne of the Land of Lightning. We are to only tell her when we believe that she is ready to take on such a responsibility, and when we think that she will be able to handle the truth of what her father did… Naruto, she wanted me to promise that we would take her Konoha with us as that we would raise her as if we were her parents and she was our daughter. I promised her that I would. I never told her that you had to. I will keep my promise, my oath, because that is my ninja way, but if you don't want to be involved, you don't have to… I made sure no to commit you to anything that you may not want to be apart of…" I trailed off, waiting for his reaction.

"…" Naruto was silent for a while, simply looking down at the baby while he bounced her and rocked her.

"What's her name…?" Naruto whispered his question, so I almost didn't catch it.

"She doesn't have one yet. The late princess died before she named her." I answered, slightly confused by his question.

"…Would you… is it okay… can we name her Kushina?" he looked over at me hesitantly, as if he expected me to reject his idea. I smiled lightly at him.

"Of course we can."

He smiled hugely at this. Then he became very serious.

"I would never leave you to take care of a baby all by your self."


	2. The Missions We Recieve

Chapter One: The Missions We Receive

Start Word: Courage (or lack there of!)

Naruto POV

OQOQO

I was starting to get impatient.

Tsunade-baa-chan called me to her office this morning at nine o'clock, but I came as soon as the messenger left my house, at around six. However, she wouldn't tell me what she wanted to talk about. The only thing she would say was, 'would you shut up and wait quietly for once! You'll thank me if you do, dammit!'

"Tsunade-ba-chaaaaan! Pleeease won't you tell me what's going on."

She just ignored me. She started doing that after the first half hour.

"Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please…." I decided to just keep saying please until she answered me.

After a few minutes, I saw that she had started to twitch. I knew that she would crack if I just kept it up. But just as she lifted her head to yell at me, there was a quiet knock on the door. Tsunade-baa-chan smiled as I quieted down to see what was about to happen.

"Come in!" Tsunade-baa-chan called to the visitor.

Hinata slowly opened the door, came in, and shut it behind her just as softly as she had opened it. I watched as she took a look around the room, taking in her surroundings. I saw her eyes widen as they passed over me. Then her face started to get red, and I wondered if she had a fever again or if it was the same one she had seemed to have since we were kids…

"Yo, hey Hinata! Did Tsunade-baa-chan call you in too?" I swung around to face Tsunade, "Does this mean you're guna give us a mission!" She hasn't given me a mission in _weeks_! Man, this was going to be awesome!

"Yes, Naruto. This _does_ mean I'm giving you two a mission." By this time Hinata had come to stand beside me. "You two will participate in an S class mission together."

Holy shit! An _S_ class mission! This just _had_ to be my lucky day! I tuned back into what Tsunade-baa-chan was saying.

"…vestigate the fiancé of the Land of Lightning's princess. This mission comes from the girl's father, who believes that the fiancé may be abusive. The princess herself is 7 ½ months pregnant with her fiancé's child. Her father says that the princess isn't the type of girl who would, to put it in layman terms, 'put out on the first date.' Because of this, he also thinks that the man, he fiancé may have raped his daughter. Hinata, it will be your job to be with the princess and see what you can learn from her. If this really is happening, you may also want to try to be a friend and condolence to her. Believe me, she'll need it. This isn't my first time dealing with rape victims, unfortunately. Naruto, you will be with the Fiancé, seeing if there is any suspicious behavior and whatnot. Now Naruto, you need to be able to keep a level head and calm disposition on this mission. That means that you can not attack the princess's fiancé if you _do_ find evidence proving that he has been abusing her. If there were any other suitable shinobi in the village, believe me, I would putting _them_ on this mission-"

"Hey!" I was a little annoyed at this. I mean, hey! I could keep a level head if I needed to…probably…

"Nevertheless, since that is not the case, and the Daimyo wishes that this be done and over with by the time that the wedding is being held in one years time. Your mission will go on until one week after the wedding. This does not mean that the mission won't be concluded before this time. If that is the case, then you can come home early. Now, on to the details! You and Hinata will be posing as a newly married civilian couple moving away from their families to get a fresh start in a new area. You were looking for work, and heard that the Daimyo was hiring for new attending maids [1] and butlers. The head keepers [2] know of this mission, so all that you have to do is tell them, 'we have come to help with the safety of the roses from the winds, and to assist in the raising of the buds in the months to come.' This is to be accompanied by three pats on your left leg with your right hand. One of you will say the phrase, and the other will do the pats. When you do this, the head keepers will know that you are the leaf shinobi, come to investigate the princess's fiancé. Once you are in, you are to go about your duties tending to the princess and her fiancé. You will have a room in the palace, reserved for attending maids and butlers working directly for the royal family and special guests.

"Feel free to choose your names as you wish, but you must at least forgo your surnames. There can be no chance of anyone for the land of lightning recognizing you. The Daimyo has requested that the princess, whose name is Kazumi Misaki, by the way, be kept in the dark about this. Her fiancé, Masao Takeru, is, obviously, not to know about this either. Which brings me to this," She reached into her desk and pulled out a small white tube, a white unmarked bottle, and a few stacks of small white boxes. I had no idea what the heck any of them could be.

After she had put the aforementioned items on the desk she looked at us expectantly.

"…What?" I said this because she was looking at me as if I was supposed to know something about the items she just placed on her desk.

"Naruto, do you know what these are?" Tsunade-baa-chan indicated the... Whatever the hell was on her desk.

She must have seen my blank stare, because she shifted her gaze to Hinata.

"Do you know what these are, Hinata?"

She was so quiet that I had forgotten Hinata was even beside me. I turned to look over at her, only to notice that her face was super red again. I ignored that as it seemed she was about to talk.

"A-ano, are t-the little b-boxes contacts for m-me to wear on the m-mission?" Hinata kept her head slightly lowered as she looked and answered the hokage.

"That is correct, Hinata. You see, Naruto, on past missions, Hinata has had to hide the fact that she is in the Hyuga clan. In that case, she wore blue colored contacts with a dark center. This makes it seem as if she has a pupil. And it changes her eye color so that it looks more like a deep purple than lavender."

"So what's the tube for? Is it more stuff for Hinata?" It was plain white, medium sized, and didn't have any distinguishing features that could tell me what in the heck it was. I looked at Hinata, but she was focused on Tsunade-baa-chan.

"Actually, Naruto, this little tube is for you."

"Me? What do I need a tube for?"

She unscrewed the top and set the lid off to the side. Then she squeezed a small amount of white goo onto her finger. The very tip of her finger glowed with chakra, and the goo suddenly turned the exact same color as her skin. She raised her finger to the diamond on her forehead, and spread the goo around overtop of it. Within a few seconds, the diamond had completely disappeared!

"This is a concealer cream that, when mixed with the users chakra, becomes completely opaque. It will cover any marking on someone's skin, no matter what it is. This is what you will use to help cover up your whisker marks.

"This bottle is a shampoo and conditioner mixed with brown hair dye. Your signature yellow spikes and whiskers are very well known everywhere. Without the whiskers, it's unlikely that you'll be recognized, but as a precaution, I' m having you dye your hair too. I have an ally in the lightning village that specializes in making these types of things, so if you start to run out just tell the head maid and butler and they will let you leave the palace to go get more."

She placed a stack of about 20 contact boxes, a tube of the concealer, and a bottle of the shampoo/conditioner/hair dye on the front of her desk and leaned back in her chair. Hinata grabbed her stack of contacts and I grabbed my bottles and we put them in our hip pouches. She then looked at us as we absorbed the full brunt of the mission.

It suddenly dawned on me what exactly I would have to do while on this mission, and I stared at Tsunade in shock. I had never been on a mission where I had to pretend that I was married to one of my friends. I had never even had a girlfriend, for crying out loud! How was I supposed to act? I started worrying that I would end up screwing up this mission.

I heard a loud 'eep' from beside me. I looked over to see Hinata, with her hands covering her mouth, bright as the raw pork Choji put on the barbeque, and eyes wide as if she just realized something shocking. She must have some weird sickness that gave her fevers on and off, because it seems that every time I see her, she suddenly get a fever.

I looked back over at Tsunade-baa-chan as she once again began talking.

"Oh yeah, and when I say you have to act like a married couple, I mean you have to act like a married couple. You have to hold hands in public, give each other hugs every once in a while, and at least kiss each other on the cheek, if you aren't going to actually kiss. The king suspects that everyone in the palace is being watched, so even when you think you are alone, you might not be and need to act accordingly. This means you have to sleep together. Not just literally, but you'll also have to convince who's watching you that you truly are newly weds. So-"

All of the sudden, there was a loud thump from beside me, and when I looked over, Hinata was on the floor passed out.

O.O

A/N: I am sooo sorry! I really wish I was better at doing things like updating! I'm still trying to get used to this and I really wish I had more to give you than this but… this is the best I've got. I'll really try to be better about this. I swear! I really wanna finish this. The other story I wrote I thought was really stupid so that's why I put it on hiatus but I really like this story so I really really really really really really REALLY want to finish this one! I promise that I'll be a better author, BELIEVE IT!

[1] - In this story, attending maids are the personal maids of there female masters. For example, a queen or princess. This is what job Hinata is going to get when she starts 'working' for the king.

[2] – Again, in this story, head keepers are like the bosses of the maids and butlers. They pretty much run the show. There is one head maid and one head butler.


	3. Chapter 2: Practice Makes Perfect!

Chapter 2: Practice Makes Perfect!

Start Word: Awkward…!

Hinata/3rd person POV (AN: I try to write in one person's POV but it usually turns out more like 3rd person so I guess it's kinda half 'n' half…!):

QOQOQOQ

"… Okay?..."

"... ink so, Naru… fine…"

"Look!... waking up!"

"Back up, Naruto. Give her room!"

"Will she be Okay, Tsunade-baa-chan?

"If you back up she will be. And what have I told you about calling me that?"

I groaned slightly and opened my eyes. Tsunade-sama was standing in front of Naruto-kun with her fists raised while he had his arms up covering his face. When they realized that I was awake and watching them Naruto-kun rushed over to my side.

"Are you okay Hinata? I made sure you didn't hit your head when you fell, so I thought you'd be okay, but your face was all red so I thought that maybe you had a fever, but Tsunade-baa-chan said that you were okay so I trusted her but then-"

"OH SHUT THE HELL UP! Jezzus… Hinata are you okay?" Tsunade-sama finally interrupted him when she got annoyed at his rambling.

"Ano, y-yes, I'm fine. T-thank you, Tsunade-s-sama…"

"Okay, now that that's established, lets get on with the mission briefing. Hinata, sit down. I don't want you falling down again." Tsunade-sama sat behind her desk while I got off the floor and sat in a nearby chair. Naruto also grabbed a chair and sat down next to me once we had moved them in front of Tsunade-samas desk. "I know this is a lot to ask of you two, and you're both still young, but this is an important mission and I need someone good at tracking," she looked pointedly at me, "and somebody who could gather information easily. Naruto, you can henge your shadow clones, right?"

Naruto vigorously shook his head up and down. "Yeah, yeah! It's real easy!"

"Can you henge small animals, like mice, that can hide and get into small places easily?" Naruto once again confirmed this fact. "Since you retain any experiences your shadow clones go through, you are perfect for gathering important information on this mission. Also, if you need to keep and eye on the princess without alerting her and or Masao to your presence, you could henge a clone into a fly or whatnot and have it follow them. Both of you are aptly qualified for this mission. You don't need to leave for at least a month before you must start heading to the kings palace to get there on time, so." She looked at both of us intensely. "I am ordering you to on a, we'll say, a mini mission. In the months time you have before you have to leave, you two are to act as newly weds. Hinata, gather the appropriate supplies to last you a month away from home, and move in with our resident knucklehead." At this, Naruto let out a surprised, "hey!" I could only stare at the Hokage in horror as she held my gaze. "You two are going to live together for a month so that you can get used to sharing the same living space before the mission starts. You also need to go places together, go on walks, hang out with friends and practice giving each other small kisses and hugs, cuddle and embrace, hold hands and etc., so that you can both get used to PDA." Before Naruto could even ask her what it meant, she answered. "PDA means 'Public Displays of Affection', Naruto." Said boy shut his mouth and sat back in his chair.

By this time, my whole body was as red as watermelon, and Naruto-kun's face was also fairly pink.

The Hokage continued with what she was saying. "I promise, I'm not trying to purposely be mean, or embarrass you, despite how easy it is. I'm simply trying to get you ready for the mission." The Hokage sighed. "I wish I didn't have to do this to you two, really. I think you're still too young, but I don't have any options. I know that both of you work well together, and based on your personalities, I know that you two can play nice together, and won't knock each others lights out when either of you get annoyed or stressed. Sakura and Ino would probably kill anyone I sent them with, and Tenten would end up shoving a kunai up Masao's ass. I have a few other konoichi that might be able to handle this mission, but I don't want to risk it, so Hinata is my only choice. I don't want to send her with anyone that looks to old for her, so that mostly leaves the people in your graduation class, and team Gai. Neji is her cousin, so he's out. Lee would be too theatrical to handle this mission, and I don't think Kiba would be able to handle having to work as a butler. I already have a mission lined up for Shino while you two will be gone, and the same goes for Choji. And finally, Shikamaru is too lazy and would complain all of the time if I made him do all of the work needed on this mission. Therefore, that leaves you, Naruto. I know you don't know exactly what a butler needs to do, but not only will the head keepers give you a rundown of what you will need to do, but you'll need to come in every Monday Wednesday, and Friday at two o'clock so that myself and a few others can teach you what you need to know to complete your mission. Oh, and you'll need these." She grabbed a small box from her drawer and tossed to Naruto. He caught it and looked at it curiously.

All of the sudden, his face turned bright red, he jumped up out of his chair, and he dropped the box.

"WHAT THE HELL?" He screamed at the top of his lungs. He started to look panicked.

Curiously, I picked up the box and looked it over. I 'eeped' and dropped the box when I saw that they were condoms. I started hyperventilating and tried to calm my self down.

Tsunade-sama looked slightly annoyed, but otherwise didn't comment. "I realize that you are on birth control, Hinata [1], but just in case, I figured it couldn't hurt to have another layer of protection, just in case. Your father's already on my case about making you do this mission. If you got pregnant because of it, I'd never hear the end of it.

Horror dawned on me when I realized that my father knew I was taking such a mission. Is that why he's been acting so grumpily lately?

"W-wait… My _father_ knows about the mission?"

She nodded her head while focusing on me. "I argued with him for 3 hours, and I still had to threaten him. He also knows exactly what, ahem, _activities_ you will be participating for this mission." At this, beyond the thought that it couldn't happen, I blushed even more.

We all sat there for a few minutes in silence, Tsunade-sama giving Naruto and I time to absorb this information. Naruto kept standing there awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Eventually, he cleared his throat and gained the Hokages attention.

"I don't… It's just… I still don't understand!" He looked very upset, and was kind of fidgety.

The Hokage sighed and looked up at him. "What the hell don't you understand, Naruto."

Naruto seemed to get even angrier at this. "What do you mean, what? I don't see why you're forcing Hinata and me to do this mission! We shouldn't have to, to… you know, before we're ready, and with the one we're married to, or at least with the one we love! Why did you have to choose US!" He was breathing heavily, and his eyes were shining with unshed tears.

"Tsunade-samas famous temper flared up at Naruto yelling at her. "I already TOLD you why I chose you! I. Had. NO OTHER CHOICE! Do you think that I WANT to make you and Hinata uncomfortable? Do you think that I LIKE to be the bad guy? I DON'T Naruto! I HATE it! But I'm the Hokage, and sometime I have to make tough decisions! Would you rather that I send someone like Kakashi or Asuma with Hinata, who are at least, 13 to 14 years older her? You two are the best candidate for the mission, that's all there is to it… I wish there were other choices… but there aren't… there just aren't…" The Hokage grew silent as she sat back in her chair wearily, as if the weight of the world was almost too much. Silently, she reached into one of her drawers and retrieved a sake bottle and cup. She poured sake into the cup so that it was almost full, and then gulped it all down in one go.

Naruto sat down without another word, a looked down at his feet. When he did, he noticed the box of condoms, and blushed. He reached down as if to pick them up, stopped, retracted his hand slightly, sighed, and then picked them up. Not knowing exactly what to do with them, he just put them into his pocket. He slumped down in his chair and fell into his thoughts.

It was quite for a while, before the Hokage finally sighed and sat up a little straighter.

"For this mission," she began, "you two are supposed to be newlywed civilians from a small village; we need marriage documents, birth certificates, etc. We need to forge most of the documents, but for the sake of simplicity, most of the information will be true. We'll have to change your names, but things like your birthdays will stay the same. Now, we need as much of the information to be true, that way, if you're asked any questions, you don't have to think about it, it will just be the truth. Therefore, just until the mission is over, you to will actually be married. Once the mission is over, the marriage can be annulled and you can go on as if it never existed. We need this to be as convincing as possible. Thank you, by the way, for agreeing to do this, even with everything I've asked of you. This could be, from some points of view, an S-rank mission, simply because of the things we're asking you to do."

Naruto looked up sharply at this. "S-rank? You're sending me on an S-rank mission? Are you serious!" A look of pure joy spread across his face as he realized he would be going on his very first S-rank mission. He jumped out of his chair pumped his fist in the air. "YEAH! MY FIRST S-RANK MISSION!"

I looked over at Lady Tsunade and noticed she had a small smile on her face as she watched Naruto cheer form his first S-rank mission. When she caught my eye, she just rolled her eyes and laughed lightly.

A/N: yeahhh I know that im a horrible updater, I would actually _**thank**_ you for throwing large rocks at my head… hahaha lol kay, so yeah. If theres anything I forgot or that doesn't make sense, please tell me! Ill try and edit it, I just need help to do that. Kay? Happy reading! Oh and sorry its so short…


End file.
